Islamic Republic of Pakistan : News, Discussions & Updates

Swat on the ventilator

After more than a decade of fear and terror, Swat vibrated with the voices and sounds which were ruthlessly suppressed by both the state and non-state actors. The huge public gathering in Kabal ground under the banner of the nascent Pakhtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), despite intimidations, knocks on the doors not to participate and numerous hurdles, was a mixture of sigh of relief as well as collective mourning over the terror and destruction of the past decade.

It was an event where everyone, from speakers to the participants had gone through the same agonies. All had unanswered questions in this land of the pure, because a precedent of accountability of the real powers had never been set.

If we established the precedent of taking to task those responsible for the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971, we would never have witnessed the subsequent abrogation of the Constitution, state within a state and its destructive policies that earned it the failed state tag and international isolation.

The entangling in the Afghan war and creating the Frankenstein in the form of religious extremism to use it as foreign, security tool and control domestic politics were also the brainchild of the same mindset that operated outside the ambit of the Constitution and were above any sort of accountability. Such sense of impunity and unquestioned power resulted in a carefree use of force domestically to the point of using its own soil as a launching pad for asymmetrical war and its citizens as gunpowder.

The main question asked by majority of the speakers in the Swat rally was who had benefited from the war on terror, what the rationale and objectives of this destructive project were and how it was conducted. Participants wanted to know why the environment of fear and suffering was the same under the Taliban as well as the military. Other predominant questions raised at this historic gathering were why the army dealt in the same manner as Taliban and why Swat seemed like an occupied territory. Prior to the PTM no mainstream party dared to ask such questions unequivocally. Perhaps that is one of the reasons of the ire of the military toward this movement.

The second reason is panic of the deep state about the PTM’s consistent and persistent reference to the Constitution and the movement’s adherence to it. Almost all the speakers referred to the Constitution and the necessity of upholding it by every institution of the state. The allegations hurled at the PTM, meant to detract from the real cause, of use of anti-parliamentary language and a confrontational posture, stood emasculated when each demand put forward at the rally was supported by a reference to the relevant section of the Constitution.

In this regard the youthful leadership of the nascent movement proved more mature by realising that the crises created by the state, forcing the genesis of this movement, lay in the weak constitutional structure causing institutional imbalance. Consequently, the perforce created imbalance resulted in the primacy of a certain institution over the Constitution and its status above accountability.

Manzoor Pakhtun while addressing the mammoth gathering candidly said, “There is a state within the state and the original state [de-jure] is terrified and high jacked by the other [the deep state].” The movement has brought the primacy of upholding and a constant reference to the Constitution for social justice, equality and transparency which is the cornerstone of national integration and integrity of the state. “This country is united by the Constitution. There is no other relation except the Constitution and whoever abrogates it is tantamount to disintegrating the state,” elaborated Manzoor.

It is a healthy sign that such voices, evolving into a movement, emanate from the grass roots that shatter self-woven mythologies that grant a deity status to some institutions and place them above the Constitution and accountability.

The movement also encountered the fake narrative of institution or Constitution, state or Constitution and body or limb which was employed by every usurper as a convenient slogan and justification for its abrogation. A state itself is an outcome of a social contract and every state institution is the creation of the Constitution. Thus there is no concept of the state without a Constitution. Its abrogation or violation reduces a state to a mere fiefdom ending in might is right which gives birth to an invincible Leviathan. Sensing this Manzoor Pakhtun declared that, “Anyone trampling the Constitution by operating beyond its ambit will be pushed back into its orbit.”

Though some elements consciously try to restrict the movement only to the Tribal Areas (FATA), it has become across the board the voice of the oppressed. Ali Wazir said in his fiery speech, “We are against tyranny and atrocity, we are on the side of the victims and oppressed whether they are Hazara, Sindhi, Baloch or someone else. We also demand accountability for the blood of police and army soldiers. Why has their blood been shed in this war of vested interest?”

Some elements as well as commentators accept that the demands presented by the movement are within the ambit of the Constitution but its method of emotionality is objectionable. Perhaps they are obliquely referring to the critique on the army.

From leadership to activists and followers, all are victims of the one and half decade long war on terror. In fact, suffering and miseries of these people gave birth to the movement. Now they demand the minimum and basic right to life and integrity from the state.

As far as criticism of the army is concerned, it is the de-facto owner and implementer of the war on terror and has blatantly attributed the self-assessed success to the institution, even to an individual propagated through #ThankYouRaheelSharrif. Naturally its conduct will come under public scrutiny too. As Manzoor Pashtun underlined, “This war was started by a general, Pervez Musharraf not by the Pakhtun… and another general, Zia called $400 million dollars peanuts for the Afghan war.”

The PTM’s stance on upholding the Constitution should be appreciated and supported. That pathway will steer the country out of the present crises and ensure respect for institutions by operating within the ambit of the Constitution.
 
Swat and Buner in Pakistan are the places where Alexander had to fight some of his toughest battles while coming down to India. The massacre that he did in Swat and Buner forced the Kings of Ganghara and Taxila to surrender before Him without a fight. It is sad to see such heroic people being reduced to slaves by Punjabi Army which are basically the descendents of ancient Taxila.
 
3 killed, 13 seriously injured in attack on Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission bus in Attock

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Two people were killed and 13 others seriously injured in a gun and bomb attack targeting a Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) bus on Attock's Bisaal Road on Thursday, local police said.

The deceased include an employee of the PAEC and a passerby — a first-year student — police officials said.

The attacker was killed in the explosion, which police believe was caused by a suicide vest.

District Emergency Officer (DEO) Dr Ashfaq said an as yet unidentified attacker had opened fire at the bus as it slowed down at a speed breaker.
 
Pakistanis on heat


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Rabbani wants government to explain payments made to ISI for 'special assignment'

Senator Raza Rabbani on Thursday demanded that the government explain in Senate in an in camera briefing why an unexplained, but significant sum of money was sanctioned for Inter Services Intelligence, as revealed in the federal budget for fiscal 2018-19.

The ISI chief, according to the Miftah Ismail-announced budget, was reportedly given access to Rs4.5 billion for a "special assignment", which Rabbani wants more details about.

"The DG ISI was given funds for a special assignment," Rabbani said during the Senate session on budget today. "When quizzed over this during a press conference, [the government] said such details cannot be disclosed in public.

"We are not asking about other expenses but what do they mean by a 'special assignment'? This needs to be explained," he said.

"The parliament should be taken in confidence over this payment," he added.

Rabbani also took note of the marked increase in defence expenditure for the upcoming year, saying: "This government has blown the federation to smithereens. The defence budget was increased by 20 per cent on the federal government's recommendations.

"This budget of Rs1.1 trillion does not even reflect pension payments," he observed.

One institution has taken control of entire state, Nawaz claims

ISLAMABAD: Continuing his tirade against ‘those’ who have removed him from power, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday alleged that democracy and the press in the country is being “strangled by invisible forces”.

Addressing the media outside the accountability court conducting corruption proceedings against the Sharif family, the former PM said that a state stands on three pillars, however, a single pillar has taken control of the entire state. He added that the PML-N is not competing with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) or Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the upcoming general elections, but with other ‘forces’.

He went on to claim that “invisible forces” are busy working on installing a parliament of their choice. “The present times are not an era of the Mughal kingdom, when all power wrested in one hand,” he asserted, while questioning where the writ of the parliament and government has gone.

“Aliens are no more as effective [as they used to be],” he said, adding that he had the support of the people.

NA passes resolution to rename QAU's Abdus Salam Centre to al-Khazini Department

The National Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to change the name of the National Centre for Physics at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) from the Professor Abdus Salam Centre for Physics to al-Khazini Department, after Byzantine-origin astronomer Abu al-Fath Abd al-Rahman Mansur al-Khazini.

Nuclear physicist Abdus Salam hailed from the Ahmadi community, whose members constitute a minority in Pakistan. Its members have faced persecution and were declared non-Muslims through a constitutional amendment in 1974.

The physics centre had been named after Abdus Salam in December 2016 following the approval of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had also approved a grant for five annual fellowships for Pakistani PhD students.

Imran alleges Nawaz was backed by army in 2013 elections

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has alleged that ousted prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif had the army’s help in the elections of 2013.

In an interview with Hamid Mir on a local news channel programme, Khan said that a Brigadier had been Nawaz’s aide in Punjab, accentuating that he had thought it through before making the revelation.

The PTI chief was questioned about the ex-PM’s comment: ‘Jalsa Lahore da, Majma Pishor da te agenda kisay hor da’, which translates to a rally held in Lahore, attended by a crowd from Peshawar on somebody else’s agenda.

He replied with pointing out that it was Nawaz who has always been the judiciary’s and army’s ‘ladla’. “Nawaz is unsettled now because both the army and judiciary are neutral,” he said and further added that Nawaz’s reality keeps getting exposed as the pressure adds.

“The media, judiciary, and armed forces had helped him. Nawaz was made a politician by Zia,” said Imran Khan.
 
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Six Punjabi labourers shot dead in Balochistan

KHARAN- An incident of targeting labourers occurred in Kharan on Friday where at least six men were gunned down.

According to local media, unidentified attackers, who apparently want to impede development in Pakistan, opened fire on the labourers in the Laijay area in Kharan district of Balochistan.

The labourers — all hailing from Punjab — were working on a mobile tower when they were targeted, Levies officials said.

The assailants escaped unhurt from the spot after the attack, they added.

Moreover, Levies and personnel from other law enforcement agencies reached the site and launched an investigation into the incident soon thereafter.

Militants have repeatedly targeted labourers from Punjab and Sindh working in various parts of Balochistan.

Four Sindhi labourers working on the construction of a road were killed in April 2017 by suspected militants in Balochistan’s Kharan.
 
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We should talk, negotiate a transit route to Afghanistan. And wait for a terrorist attack to happen. Pakistans Deep state will definitely make a move. That would be a final nail in the coffin. Shake hands with your left while holding a stone in the right.
The transit route to Afghanistan is already on offer . We haven't taken it up.
 
I very much doubt it . The era for such bus yatras has gone .
I wish Rahul Gandhi would volunteer for a bus yatra and someone blows up that bus inside Pakistan. Gandhis are destined to create new nations. One stone 2 birds situation in Indian politics lol. ok now im dreaming too far
 
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UAE announces $200 million in humanitarian aid to Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan have signed a US$200 million cooperation agreement to execute Phase III of the UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme (UAE PAP).

The funds will be invested in provinces including Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It will also include 40 projects covering roads, health, education, water and agriculture.

No presence of any Pak minister :D